1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus which receives plural pieces of image data and plural pieces of output information related to the image data from one or a plurality of communication devices, decides output order of the image data and outputs the image data based on the output information according to the decided output order.
2. Description of Related Art
As regards processing time of various kinds of processes which use a computer, the output time required for an output process for outputting image data stored in the computer onto a paper sheet or the like by a printer connected with the computer is often longer than processing time required for other processes.
Consequently, a user who has made a request to the printer for an output process can not grasp output time required for the output process precisely and has to stop his work to check the transitional state of the output process several times before the completion of the output process. Moreover, a user who has made a request for an output process to a printer which is located apart from his computer has to go over to the place where the printer is located to obtain a paper sheet on which desired image data is recorded, and when the output process has not been completed yet, he has to wait for the completion of the output process beside the printer. Such a state causes a problem that the working efficiency declines.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-28923 (1991) has accordingly proposed a printer which is constructed to calculate output time required for an output process and notify a user of the calculation result when the user makes a request for the output process.
When a user makes a request to such a printer for an output process, the printer calculates output time required for the output process of image data on the basis of the volume of the image data to be outputted and the output performance of the printer and displays the calculated output time at a display unit of a computer used by the user. Moreover, after the output process starts, the printer calculates, at predetermined timing, time remaining until output of the image data in the course of execution of the output process is completed and notifies the user, by the same method, of the calculated time remaining until the output process is completed.
With this structure, the user can grasp the completion time of the output process approximately precisely by referring to the output time, the time remaining until the output process is completed and the like which are displayed on his computer. In this manner, there is no necessity for the user to stop his work in order to confirm the completion of the output process, and thereby a decrease in the working efficiency can be prevented.
There is another printer which is constructed to change the output order of each image data in response to user's request when plural pieces of image data in an execution queue for output processing are accumulated. The respective image data can be outputted in appropriate order by using such a printer to execute output processes of the respective image data in order desired by the user. With such a printer, there is no necessity for a user in an urgent situation, for example, to wait for the completion of the output process uselessly, and thereby the working efficiency can be enhanced.
When a printer constructed in this manner is shared by a plurality of computers via a network, however, the printer obtains image data to be outputted respectively from the computers. In this case, it is extremely difficult to calculate completion time of output processes of the respective image data precisely in accordance with output time calculated on the basis of the volume of the respective image data to be outputted and the output performance of the printer. It is also difficult to notify each user of the calculated completion time of each output process since there is a plurality of users requesting output processes.
Furthermore, there may arise a problem that a trouble occurs among users since a change in execution order of output processes performed in response to a request from a user affects the termination time of output processes requested by other users.
As described above, when a printer constructed as above is shared by a plurality of computers via a network, there arises a problem that the working efficiency of users can not be enhanced easily.